Nurburgring optimistic over 2013 race

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: The Nurburgring expects to retain its F1 race next year despite its recent financial problems.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Boosted Nurburgring ‘very optimistic’ about F1 (GP Update)

“After months of wrangling, the contracts for the Formula 1, 24-hour race and the Truck Grand Prix are at last completed. The contact with Bernie Ecclestone was never lost and over the summer break we shall endeavour to negotiate the final deal for 2013.”

Monisha Kaltenborn Q&A: Sauber shooting for P5 (F1)

“We have to move closer and get things sorted out together, because this is not the land of plenty – we have to meet the challenges of the global economic situation. We also have to see that the complex rules and standards are a slimmed down a bit to make them more understandable. It is not good – neither for the teams nor the fans – that regulations are changed almost on a yearly basis.”

Webber turns Olympic spectator in break (Reuters)

“I know other teams have been asked to address things with their cars, but they (the FIA directives) are not for general consumption. And some of ours do make the general consumption, which is just the way it’s been.”

A Million Miles Away – Half Term Report with Eric Boullier (Lotus)

“I’m looking forward to having similar weekends to what we saw in Hungary because I think that things are coming together well now. Both drivers are very eager to do well, both them and the race team are starting to really deliver with the car, as is everybody back at Enstone.”

Mark Webber targets first win in Spa (Daily Express)

“We’ll deal with the championship situation later in the season. But I love Spa and I’d love to win there for the first time.”

Senna optimistic of securing future (Autosport)

“Everybody needs opportunities to grow up and this is mine. I need an opportunity to grow up and develop with the team. It’s probably the hardest season in Formula 1 for who knows how many years. With a tenth of a second you can be five or six positions up.”

The season so far – Jaime Alguersuari (BBC)

“It has been very enjoyable trying to commentate on it, never quite knowing what will happen. A big reason for this is the fantastic job being done by the FIA to make F1 fairer for all the teams, especially the ones with smaller budgets.”

The Invisible Divide (F1 Elvis)

Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley on the 2007 season: “The unavoidable tension didn’t take long to spread throughout the team. Fernando tried desperately to rally his own side of the garage with ‘perks’ for people associated with his car and Lewis played his best media games, notably a display of shaking hands with the entire team whenever the TV cameras came in pre-race.”

Surtees karting race offers big prizes (MotorSport)

“A GP3 test with Carlin Motorsport and a simulation session at the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team are just two of the amazing prizes on offer to young racing drivers, at a unique ‘all-stars’ karting event organised by racing legend John Surtees this autumn.”

Bricking it: Tyrrell P34 replica made from Lego (WTF1)

“Brickself user ‘Roscopc’ has made an awesome replica Tyrrell P34 out of Lego.”

Comment of the day

Lots more suggestions for races to watch during the summer break:

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on 12th August!
Gee Halen

Lotus Festival at Brands Hatch on August 18-19 will have classic F1 demonstration runs: 1968 Lotus 49B, 1979 Lotus 97T, Lotus 102, 1989 Lotus 101 and the 1962 Lotus 22

Racing-wise, it doesn’t get any better than full grids of Elise Trophy, Lotus Cup UK and Production BMW, amongst others, on the Grand Prix circuit.
Racingfanatic96

Also, Saturday August 18th, Jacques Villeneuve will be at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve running a Penske car in the Nationwide series.
Robbie

Can I add this weekend is also Croft Nostalgia weekend.

For us northerners its the closest we get to Goodwood! A mix of F2, F5000, Formula Ford, Touring Cars, GT’s, and Mini Coopers from the 40s thru 70s.

Can’t wait!
Euro Brun

I’ll be at the Grand-Am race at Mid-Ohio which runs on Saturday before the Indy Cars. If anyone else will be up there this weekend, come say hi :). I’ll be wearing this t-shirt.
Joey-Poey

From the forum

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today.

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

The poisonous internal politics at McLaren (alluded to in one of the links above) exploded into public view on this day five years ago.

Their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso became involved in a dispute over which should have the preferred running position during qualifying, leading to Alonso being stripped of pole position and setting in motion a chain of events which ended with McLaren being excluded from the constructors’ championship and fined $100m.

It began when Hamilton refused to allow Alonso past him as arranged during qualifying. Alonso retaliated by blocking Hamilton in the pits, which earned him a penalty.

An angry Alonso then threatened McLaren team principal Ron Dennis he would reveal damning information about McLaren’s use of intellectual property relating to Ferrari’s car it had obtained via their rival team’s disaffected former employee Nigel Stepney. It was this which eventually led to McLaren’s expulsion and fine, and Alonso’s departure from the team.

There remains much untold about this deeply controversial tale. Stepney is understood to be preparing to reveal his version of events in a forthcoming book.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

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36 comments on “Nurburgring optimistic over 2013 race”

  1. Normally, I would post this in the COTA construction update thread, but this is a big one, so it’s going here: the first layer of surfacing is now complete. There is another layer that needs to go over the top of this, but the circuit is just weeks away from being in a raceable condition.

    1. @prisoner-monkeys I assume we’re looking at this from what will the Paddock Club?

      1. I have no idea. I just found it online and decided to share it.

  2. It began when Hamilton refused to allow Alonso past him as arranged during qualifying. Alonso retaliated by blocking Hamilton in the pits, which earned him a penalty.

    aaahhhh, the very moment i became an alonso fan

    1. The very moment i started hating Hamilton !

      1. The moment they both lost a lot of respect from me :-)

  3. Although neither German circuits are anything like a shadow of their former selves, Nordschleife and Hockenheimring, I still believe that the modern day version of Nurburgring is better than Hockenheim.

    1. @kingshark, and a lot of other tracks currently hosting F1.

    2. I don’t agree.

      I think while neither has any character, Hockenheim is more overtake-friendly. If we count the Stadium section as its characteristic piece of layout, then it has more character as well, which remained from the old course.

      The GP-Strecke at the Nürburgring retained next to nothing from the Nordschleife.

      But than’s just my opinion and there is no point arguing about tastes, so I’m fine with it if a lot of people does not share my view.

      1. I think the GP circuit does a good job of echoing the Nordschleife. It has turn upon turn and plenty of gradient. The only thing it really misses if proximity of barriers for obvious reasons.

  4. “Everybody needs opportunities to grow up and this is mine. I need an opportunity to grow up and develop with the team. It’s probably the hardest season in Formula 1 for who knows how many years. With a tenth of a second you can be five or six positions up.”

    I’m bemused by this. Senna has had every opportunity afforded to him, and he has consistently failed to make good on them. Why is he so deserving of another season?

    1. Had he? And I thought that his race pace this season was as good as Maldonado’s and his race craft better(not difficult to accomplish, really). It’s only the qualifying that had been his weakness. If he manages to qualify close to Maldonado from now on, he’ll outrace him. And outscore him too, the difference in the standings is only a meager 5 points.

      And if you refer to a season in HRT and a few races coming in mid-season in Lotus as fair opportunities, then what you really should say is “I don’t like B. Senna and biased against him”

      1. And if you refer to a season in HRT and a few races coming in mid-season in Lotus as fair opportunities…

        What I can’t process in this whole Bruno Senna affair is that every season, people are rushing to point out the fact that his past experience in the sport has no meaning whatsoever.

        2010 – He raced one full season for HRT, he didn’t manage to stand out in the crowd, he’s almost had a 50% retirement rate and barely managed to beat his team-mates; Senna’s fans said he did not have the car nor the opportunity to show his full potential.
        2011 – He took Heidfeld’s place at Renault – a midfield team this time – for half a season, managed to score 2 points compared to Heidfeld’s 34 and got trashed by Petrov; his fans said it was just half a season, he had no time to blend in with the team, get used to the car and he arrived at a point where Renault were losing form.
        2012 – He gets a full season contract with Williams – a team that can easily go for 5th place in the WCC, he is slow and gets constantly beaten by his team-mate, who by the way, tends to crash once every five minutes. I wonder: what is it this time that he needs EVEN MORE time in F1 to settle and show his potential?

        Frankly, I think he’s already had three times the chances other better, faster drivers ever had. He’s either a bad driver or he’s the most unlucky person in motorsport. Either way, I’d still let Bottas have a go…

        PS: Saying a season for HRT is meaningless is a plain stupid affirmation. Running for a backmarker might not bring points, podiums or wins but it surely provides an opportunity to shine for a decent to brilliant driver. Remember Minardi? I’m sure Alonso and Webber do.

        1. @tony031r

          Running for a backmarker might not bring points, podiums or wins but it surely provides an opportunity to shine for a decent to brilliant driver. Remember Minardi? I’m sure Alonso and Webber do.

          My agreement levels are dangerously high.

        2. he is slow

          If you actually go back & look at lap charts you see that in terms of race pace he’s actually been quicker than Maldonado more often than not.

          Its true to say Bruno’s qualifying pace has untill recently been poor, However as I say there’s been nothing wrong with his race pace.
          Had he got qualifying sorted earlier in the year & been starting higher up the grid I’ve no doubt based on race pace that he’d be ahead of Pastor in drivers standings.

          At both Hockenheim & Hungary his race pace was also matching that of the lead cars.
          If thats considered slow then over half the grid must be slow?

          For the record Im not necisarily a fan of Bruno’s, Just going by what all the data’s saying.

          1. At both Hockenheim & Hungary his race pace was also matching that of the lead cars.

            I beg to differ. At Hockenheim that only sort-of-happened during the second stint from lap 2 on to lap 19. And it happened because Bruno had the track to himself. In Hungary again, he managed to keep up with the lead cars during the same second stint. Take a look at the graphs more carefully.

            Keeping up with the lead drivers for one stint out of three does not mean in terms of race pace Bruno is there. If he was there with the lead cars so often, why isn’t Williams in the top 5 constructors championship where it should be?

          2. Steve_LWA I think that what you say here

            Had he got qualifying sorted earlier in the year & been starting higher up the grid I’ve no doubt based on race pace that he’d be ahead of Pastor in drivers standings.

            is just saying that if he had done better he would have more points. And if Maldonado had not been crashing out at almost every race since Barcelona and had kept it on the track in Melbourne he too would have far more points.

            But the fact is, that neither did do that. And apart from Alonso (although, .. if only he had had a faster car at the start of the year) such comments are true for every single driver and team.

            Personally I think that Senna did have more chances in F1 so far than some others have had to prove themselves. He is getting in a stride recently, if he keeps it up, he can show he belongs on the grid. If not, Williams have a promising Bottas who can step in next year.

      2. And I thought that his race pace this season was as good as Maldonado’s

        And I’m going to have to disagree with this as well. His race pace was indeed better than Maldonado’s but only on 3 or 4 occasions out of 11. Provided Maldonado wasn’t completely insane, who is faster in terms of race pace between these two wouldn’t even be taken into consideration as a debate subject.

        1. With tire management being such a factor this year I don’t think race lap times tell the story. Drivers don’t push to the limit except possibly at a few strategic points.

  5. Sounds like Jaime has sent his CV to Maranello and is hoping for a positive response.

    1. Why, because he’s talking up Ferrari?

      It’s difficult to disagree with him, given that the team keep saying that they only have the fourth-best car on the grid, but Alonso has a forty-point lead over Webber.

    2. @hohum Whether Ferrari are shopping for a number one or a number two, I can’t see them picking up a driver who Red Bull decided wasn’t good enough for them.

      1. but was it a fair decision by Red Bull??

        1. @snafu Yes, considering that he only managed to outscore Buemi in 1 out of 3 seasons, and was outqualified 32-14.

          1. True, However he actually finished ahead of Buemi more often than not, Had more consistent race pace than Buemi, Gave better technical feedback than Buemi & according to several engineer’s within the team (Including Giorgio Ascanelli who recently joined Ferrari) was the more complete driver of the 2.

            I’ve also seen speculation elsewhere on Italian websites that Giorgio Ascanelli left STR primarily because he feels dropping both drivers to bring in 2 rookie’s was a poor decision & felt that Jaime shoudl have been retained with Vergne been brought in alongside him.

      2. @Keithcollantine, I agree, but when looking for a job it doesn’t pay to give up and undersell yourself, you have to keep trying and thinking positive. I wasn’t seriously suggesting he had a chance but thinking about it, could he really be any less effective than Massa?

    3. If he brings enough sponsorship money Force India or Caterham might be two viable options for him.

      Wheter he’s applying for a seat with them or not, Ferrari still looks like a VERY long shot for a guy like Alguersuari. Plus, it looks to me like the Scuderia now has two quite logical options for 2013: keep Massa or bring Perez. No need to look anywhere else on the market imho…

  6. So Bernie typically gives a circuit reason to worry and they come back and say it’s all sorted, don’t worry. You could write the script! It’s good news, no one wants to lose the Nurburgring but as long as it’s viable for everyone should be the only reason it stays.

    I do agree with Senna. He needs time to develop into the team. He’s not making as many headlines as Maldonado but perhaps that isn’t a bad thing. Williams would do well to hold onto their driver line-up for two consecutive years. It’s a display of commitment.

  7. Re: Marc Priestley

    I’ve always felt that was a bit over the top on Hamilton’s part in front of the cameras.

  8. Well Webber has remained fairly optimistic about his title chances. Sadly I think his optimism will be fruitless, as Vettel is more consistently competitive and should come good later in the season. As for his chances of a Spa win, I am almost certain that – provided he qualifies well – Räikkönen will win emphatically.

  9. @Joey-Poey

    Re: co-COTD

    Please tell me where OH where OH WHERE could I find that tee-shirt to purchase?

    1. I forget which website I got it at specifically, but it looks like you can snag one here: http://vinteeage.com/vintage-grand-prix-t-shirt-vintage-t-shirt-review-t-shirts-com-t-shirts/

  10. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- I get co-COTD at a time when I make an incredibly stupid error @_@. Just to correct myself, it was an ALMS race, not Grand-Am.

  11. OH! And I should add that Matt Brabham drove in the USF2000 support race at Mid-Ohio. He put the car on pole, only to have it stripped due to a technical infringement on his tire choice. Like Hamilton in Spain, he started from the back. In about 20 laps, he went from 30th to 3rd! Was an incredible run with some fantastic moves. I hope he reaches higher levels of open wheels so that I can say I was there that day to see him storm to the podium from last place.

    1. That sounds like really exiting race there @joey-poey!

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